The Missing Dough(72)

“Obviously, she wants to find every last dollar Grant hid,” I said. “And that’s going to take some time. She probably will, too. A hundred and fifty thousand dollars can’t be that easy to hide, don’t you think?”

“If Grant had an entire house to do it in, it just might be, but she’s got time on her side, and if it’s stashed there, she’s bound to find it eventually.”

“Not if we find it first,” I said.

“How can we do that? We don’t even have access to the place anymore.”

“I don’t know, but I hate the thought of her getting away with it.”

“Murder or theft?” Maddy asked me.

“Well, we know she’s a thief. We just need to figure out if she’s a killer or not.”

I took the sandwich out, slid it onto a tray, and then cut it in half.

“When you know how we can do that, be sure to let me know,” Maddy said as she picked the sandwich up and left to deliver it.



Josh came into the kitchen ten minutes before we were set to close for our own lunch break. Maddy and I had been discussing all afternoon what we were going to do to investigate, but so far we hadn’t come up with anything concrete.

“You aren’t due to start your shift until we get back from lunch,” I said. “Greg’s working a double shift, so we don’t need you until then.”

“I’m not here to work,” Josh said. “I was digging around on the Internet, and I found something I thought you’d like to see.”

“What is it?” I asked.

He handed me a printout from his computer, and I saw that it was an announcement. Samantha and Kenny Stout were playing an afternoon show in Grayson’s Corners, not too far away from Timber Ridge.

I read it and then handed the printout back to him. “Surely they canceled it. Samantha can’t even stand to be in the same town as her ex-husband, let alone share a stage with him.”

“I just called, and they started playing ten minutes ago.”

“Both of them?” I asked, having a hard time believing that Samantha would play with Kenny after what she’d told Maddy and me earlier.

“Both of them,” he said. “If you close the Slice now, you can get there before the fireworks start.”

“Why would anyone have fireworks in the middle of the afternoon?”

“I didn’t mean literally,” he said, “but just because they started their show doesn’t mean they’ll necessarily finish it.”

There was nothing in the oven, so it was an easy decision to make. “Come with me,” I said as I flipped off the conveyor.

There were two single diners in the Slice, so I walked to the door and flipped the sign that told our customers that we were closed. After locking the door, I told our remaining diners, “Take your time. I’m not trying to rush you. You still have ten minutes.”

Maddy and Greg walked over to us. “What’s going on?”

“We’re going to Grayson’s Corners right now,” I explained, “and the boys are going to clean up for us as soon as our patrons leave. Right, guys?”

“We’d rather go with you,” Josh said. “What if there’s trouble?”

“If there is, we can handle it,” I said. “What do you say? Will you do this for us?”

“Of course we will,” Greg said.

“Why exactly are we going to Grayson’s Corners?” Maddy asked as she took off her apron. “Are we eating lunch at Mama Mia’s?”

“Not today. Samantha and Kenny are playing on an outdoor stage there right now, and if we hurry, we might just get a chance to grill them a little more before they’re both gone for good.”

“What are we waiting for, then? Let’s go,” she said.

I unlocked the door, and Greg closed it behind us.

As we walked through the shortcut, Maddy said with a grin, “I’ve got an idea. Why don’t I drive?”

“You are so funny,” I said deadpan.

“Have you heard from Bob Pickering yet?”

“He says that a wire came loose somewhere,” I said, “and that I was probably driving too fast on a bad road.”

“That sounds like a really technical diagnosis. It’s a good thing he’s such a veteran mechanic,” Maddy said. “Why hasn’t he brought it back over here yet?”

“He found a few other things wrong when he was poking around under the hood,” I admitted. “I should have it by this evening.”

“I’m glad you can trust Bob. Otherwise, it would sound like too big a coincidence that he found other problems while he was under the hood, you know?”